Audre Lorde Way (Manhattan)
Present name:None
Location:At the intersection of 68th Street and Lexington Avenue
Honoree: Audre Lorde (1934-1992) described herself as “black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet”—which only begins to describe her work, her writing, and the many aspects of her lifelong battle for social justice. She was also a preeminent advocate for civil rights, LGBTQ rights, women’s rights, and disability rights. She exerted tremendous influence on generations of activists while cementing her own reputation as a poet and author of great originality and distinction. Celebrated for defending the marginalized and oppressed, she famously urged her students and activists to fight for justice by reminding them: “Your silence does not protect you.” “I am deliberate,” she wrote inspiringly, “and afraid of nothing.” Born in New York, she graduated from Hunter College High School (while attending poetry workshops sponsored by the Harlem Writers Guild) and received her BA from Hunter College in 1959. During her student days, she published her poetry professionally for the first time in Seventeen Magazine. Following graduate study at Columbia, she was poet-in-residence at Tougaloo College in Mississippi, where she focused on feminist theory, race studies, and LGBTQ rights. Later, after teaching stints at CUNY’s Lehman College and John Jay College, she returned to her alma mater, Hunter College, in 1981 as Distinguished Thomas Hunter professor. Meanwhile, this activist-author who refused to be categorized published several collections of her acclaimed poems in the 1960s and 70s. Her 1984 book of essays and speeches, Sister Outsider, not only cemented her reputation as a major cultural and political voice, but also defined her future crusades for equality. In 1988, she won the National Book Award for her essays Burst of Light. Earlier in the decade, she co-founded Kitchen Table Press, dedicated to publishing the work of black feminist authors. Governor Mario M. Cuomo named her the 1991 Poet Laureate of New York State. She has inspired much critical praise and several biographical films—and her reputation has soared since her death. (Powers)
LL:2022/54

New York Poet Laureate Audre Lorde Way (Staten Island)
Present name:None
Location:Southwest corner of Victory Boulevard and St. Paul’s Avenue
Honoree: Audre Lorde (1934-1992) was an African-American writer, feminist and civil rights activist. Her 17 volumes of poetry, essays and autobiography reflected her hatred of racial and sexual prejudice. Born in Manhattan, she graduated from Hunter College and the Columbia University School of Library Science. In the 1980’s, Lorde and writer Barbara Smith founded Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press. She also was a founder of Sisters in Support of Sisters in South Africa, an organization that advocated for women under apartheid. (Rose)
LL:2019/158